Quincy frowned across the booth at Darius. “Ramona’s not an evil overlord.”
Darius gave the professor a wide-eyed look. “Did I say, ‘Ramona is the evil overlord’? You’re too sensitive.”
Ean ignored his friends’ exchange. “I think the best solution is for the business owners to buy the center ourselves.”
Darius’s brows knitted. “I thought they’d already considered and rejected that plan.”
“They wanted everyone to put in an equal share, and not everyone could afford to.” Ean rubbed the back of his neck.
“And that bothers you.” Quincy made it a statement.
Actually, he thought the business owners’ objections were ridiculous. “What does it matter if someone puts in twice as much money as I do and gets a bigger vote? We all have the goal of preserving the center.”
“The bottom line is you need a buyer.” Darius waved a buffalo wing. “But the association doesn’t trust the new owners to have their interests in mind.”
“I can’t blame them.” Quincy received another beer from their young server.
“Neither can I.” Ean thanked the server as he accepted his mug.
Dari
us winked at the young woman as he exchanged his empty mug for the full one. “The solution is obvious.”
Quincy sighed. “Do you want to share it with the rest of us, Obi-Wan?”
Darius chuckled at Quincy’s Star Wars reference. “Ean should get some of his fat-cat friends to invest in the center with him.”
Ean was intrigued. “The other business owners wouldn’t want outsiders to own the center.” He was thinking specifically of Megan.
“You’re not an outsider.” Darius dropped the remnants of another wing into the bowl. “As long as you’re at least an equal partner, the association would trust you to look after their interests.”
Quincy sat back in his booth seat. “I hate to say it—I really do—but his idea makes sense.”
“It does.” Ean’s pulse kicked up. He slapped Darius’s back again. “Let’s hope I can pull it off.”
He knew just the men to whom he should present his proposal. It would feel good to use his former law firm’s resources to help the little guys for once.
CHAPTER 33
“Megan, move in with me.” Ean’s husky invitation came out of the dark.
Megan’s heart somersaulted into her throat and stuck there. In the aftermath of their lovemaking, she had curled against him in his bed. Now she shifted away. Cool air slipped between them. She hugged the thick comforter closer, shielding her from the cold and his invitation.
It was Sunday night and the room was dark, but Megan could make out the clean, sharp lines of his face. “Don’t you think it’s a little soon for that? We’ve only been seeing each other for two months.”
“But we’ve known each other practically all of our lives.” Ean rolled onto his side, facing her.
“For seven of those years, you were in New York.” His time in New York might be a sore subject between them, but it was the truth.
So why did he want to set up house with her? Was he thinking about the future and planting roots in Trinity Falls? Or did he just want to live together for as long as he was here?
Ean’s fingertips feathered across her cheek. “Time is relative, Megan.”
His touch was very persuasive. Still . . . “I’d rather wait awhile longer before moving in together.”
“How much longer?”
“I don’t know, but two months seems too soon.”